"Again, I'm afraid I haven't the foggiest. I'm not too familiar with the properties on the outskirts of town, though I'm sure we could find out if your friend here has the details."

Sky Dog rubbed the back of his neck to smooth the sudden prickling there, frowning. "My sorry, Morgan...it is the tracks that stop at the fence, and they go away again on their path, or the tracks are going, going to the fence and over it, you see there are no more?"

He listened for the answer and details with close attention.

"Well, the tracks don't stop at the fence, exactly. They start from around that area. Not exactly at the fence, just that general area, and there's a gate in the fence, which lead me to think about that. As far as whether they came from the other side o' that fence, I'm just speculating. But it looked suspicious to me."

The shaman was clearly defeated by this vague description, but grasped the salient points: some tracks, a gate, and a surface that showed Morgan nothing beyond it. "It would be well to ask the one that owns the building about the tracks there," he agreed.

With a start and a snort, Randolph wakes abruptly where he was dozing in a pew. He stoops to recover his notebook, scrambling for his pencil before the blasted raven snags it. Then he stands with a sheepish grin.

"What time is it?" he asks generally, peering about the magically illuminated church.

"Honestly, Mister Darling, if you're not going to keep up, you should probably just resume your nap.  It's growing late and there will likely be beasties and undead storming the town gates soon, and we cannot afford to be caught unawares.  So, I contend that we work with the Doctor here to come up with a plan that will be sufficient to keep us all safe."   Her gaze shifted to Caleb and she smiled.  "I do hope you will consider staying to help, Mister Morgan.  We are going to need competent gunslingers."

Korpi perked at the skittering object, but Darling reclaimed his pencil before it could be pounced on.

Sky Dog looked at the back of his right hand, estimating by the slight burning there. "It is the middle of the morning, Darling, I think," he mentioned, then looked at Hawthorne with an expression difficult to decipher.

"They will be much stronger, if we fail in the hunting and they come to the town," he said, the tone mild but the restlessness in him clearer.

Daniel waited patiently for an answer to his question, but eventually decided that none was forthcoming. He filed that, as well as the constant protestations, away in his memory as he contemplated exactly what to do about this Doctor.

He looked at Cora as she stated they should work with the man to formulate a defensive strategy, but didn't object. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer his father always said. This doc needed to be watched very closely. Very closely indeed.

"Better ta be the hunter than the hunted, I think." Which was rather obvious - he just felt like saying something at this juncture.

"Amen," Korpi declared, picking up her pin in her beak and shifting to Daniel's head.

In reply to Coraline Hawthorne (msg # 70):

Randolph rises and turns to Cora with a slight bow, "My apologies, Miss Hawthorne, I can only offer the explanation that it was a troubled night and a long journey. I assure you that I feel quite refreshed now."

He includes all present in his next remarks: "Perhaps we should attempt to accomplish both goals. One group could investigate this location outside of town while another prepares the town and townspeople for any assault tonight.

"Between ourselves and the veteran lawmen who came with us, we should have sufficient numbers to do both. What do you think, Marshall Morgan?"

The lawman gave Coraline a pleasant smile. "Well, I'm definitely planning on helping with the town's defenses for the night, though if some of the others want to go to check out the ranch for the remainder of the day I'd be amenable to that as well."

"As I see it, there are two threats. One of these we know about - the periodic attacks this town seem to have been suffering for a little while now. The other one we have vague suspicions about, including dreams and portents and whatnot, and that's the likelihood that Quantrill has his sights on Oakley and is gonna strike here next."

"We came here to act on the second of those, but that doesn't mean that we can't also see to the first. As Mr. Darling has suggested, we should have sufficient numbers to take care of both. If there are people that know how to run a town, it would be Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, and they're not too bad in a gunfight either, from what I hear. I think we can all attest to the fact that Charlie, Shotgun John, and Texas Jack haven't been slackers on that front either. I figure they'll boster the town's defenses, and perhaps we can check out the ranch and then return to add our aid to whatever happens to this town at night."

"I reckon that seems fair." Gabby muses. He looks over at Whateley. "What about you, Doc? You plannin' on commin' with?"

Daniel nodded at his uncle's response. Seemed like a logical course of action since it seemed likely they could manage both.

Korpi opened her wings a bit to keep her balance. "Korp."

"It is far away, the ranch?" Sky Dog asked, still slightly confused.

"It's not far. I think we could make it there in about a half hour, maybe a little more," he said.

"So I reckon Gabby, Daniel, Randolph and Sky Dog are likely to come with me from the sound of things. Miss Hawthorne, will you be staying behind in town with the other lawmen?" he asked.

"If the ranch is fairly close and you intend to be back before nightfall, I'll be going along to investigate.  I'm sure there will be plenty of time to learn a few things from Doctor Whateley.  In any case, we should probably be going if we intend to make the most of the day."

Gaze flicking between speakers, the shaman paused, then scrubbed absently at the frown lines on his brow. He looked around sharply at nothing but empty air and stared at it a moment, faintly puzzled, before speaking. "...If I am needed, so I will come. That Quanterill-the-demon should maybe go to sit at table at the ranch, it is a strange thing."

Sky Dog considered. "Do you think maybe you have a rival, Whateley? We ended made things, coming here."

"Krrowk," Korpi added around her pin. Sky Dog threw her a few soft sentences of explanation in his native tongue.

"I don't think it's Quantrill at the ranch, Sky Dog. I think whatever's out there might have somethin' to do with what's affecting the town, though. Do you have any sorta plan on how to look for Quantrill?" he asked the native.

"A...rival? I'm not sure I understand what you mean..." he said, a little confused himself.

"Ha! Ha, no longer, but many feets going away without a horse with them, yes? -and the settlement is alarmed besides that Quanterill desires his name spoken - if those of the ranch were killed and eaten, the people in the settlement would know it."

Sky Dog tapped his chin, thinking. "As for to find him, with a land-drawing to see better the places he might go and knowing he is eastward, it should not be too hard to discover the track of so many running ones. Korpi can see many miles at once, and smell dead things as far - it is easier than to search on foot!"

Whateley's question brought some further perplexity. "Perhaps it is not the same so often here, though I was well into America before I had to turn a rival's soul into an eel for that he offered me violences for 'disgracing the Raven'-"

"Ha!" Korpi added, recognising some words, then had to look for her dropped pin in Daniel's hair.

"-as though Raven could care! Ah, the Voicemaker would break the world if he thought there was something good inside." He glanced to Korpi, who was occupied with locating and retrieving her pin and simultaneously restyling Daniel's hair to suit the endeavour.

"-But in the North, if one shamán or sorcerer migrates to a place that one has not been before, that one will be challenged by the jealous that are there or the young ones without reputation. Sometimes it is not spoken, only the rival sends his-her helper-spirits or a made thing, and the shamán that comes must have skill to survive. I do not think I am known of so soon, in this place, and yet one is making things for sending." He let Whateley draw the evident conclusion, making no mention of another member of their hunting-party who might also be challenged.

"I think I understand what you're getting at, though I confess never to have considered the notion. I initially thought that this might be the work of some local savages, but the idea of a rival never sprung to mind, honestly. Precious few know of my arrival in the country, as I like to stick to wilderness trails except when I seek reprieve in the comforts of society upon occasion as I did when I arrived here," he said in response to Sky Dog.

"Another possibility is that perhaps I was drawn to this place - perhaps something drew me here. This is not the first time I have found myself in a place with some trouble since coming to this country."
This message was last edited by the player at 15:01, Thu 08 May 2014.

"I'm somewhat out of my depth when it comes to speculating about what brought people here. As for us, we came on a mission to keep this town safe from harm, specifically from Quantrill. In the past it seems that Quantrill, or whoever is masquerading under his name, has been able to take on towns with whatever he brought. I don't want to risk facing down him and the other threats troubling the town at the same time, so I figure we should get one of these threats out of the way first," he said.

Looking at Sky Dog, he added, "On the way, we can talk to some of the locals and try to figure out what's around here, if anybody has a map, or if they can make one for us so you can get some ideas and premonitions about where Quantrill might be headed."

Next, he turned to Coraline, addressing her politely as a gentleman would. "The ranch is fairly close, Miss Hawthorne, so I am sure as I can be in an uncertain world that we are likely to return by nightfall - and I'm inclined to agree that we should get a move on it. I'm gonna be outside. Once everyone's ready, we can make our way out there," he said authoritatively, and moved to leave the church, before long only a proud silhouette in the doorway until the doors closed behind him.

Gabby follows along behind Caleb.

Randolph thanks Dr. Whateley for his time and leaves the church with Marshall Morgan.

Daniel crossed himself one more time and said a prayer to the Lord before taking his leave of the church.